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Raymondville, Texas

Everything Raymondville is known for

1 song mention this city

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Music in Raymondville

Songs About Raymondville

South Texas Lawman
James McMurtry
53%
"One in Rio Bravo, one in Raymondville"

Artists From Raymondville

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Raymondville

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Raymondville.

Rio Grande / Río Bravo 162 songs Rio Grande / Río Bravo 249 songs

History of Raymondville

The Tent City Prison Riot RoadyGoat

As you drive along Highway 77 near Raymondville, you're passing the former site of a prison unlike any other. It was the Willacy County Correctional Center, a massive facility that held 3,000 men, not in concrete cells, but in ten giant domes made of Kevlar tent fabric. In February 2015, years of complaints about medical care and living conditions boiled over. Inmates rioted, setting fires and tearing apart the Kevlar structures. They effectively destroyed their own prison. The riot made national news, and within months the federal government terminated its contract and the 'tent city' prison was shut down for good. The event was a dramatic turning point, exposing the realities of the private prison industry and dealing a major economic shock to a town that had come to depend on it.

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The Hurricane, the Flood, and the Flies RoadyGoat

In September 1967, Hurricane Beulah showed Raymondville the terrifying power of weather, hydrology, and biology combined. Beulah came ashore near Brownsville on September 20th as a category three, then stalled and wrung itself out over South Texas — 15 to 25 inches of rain, with isolated pockets close to 30. The STEM problem is the landscape you're driving through: it's almost perfectly flat. With the ground saturated and no relief to channel the water, the rain simply pooled, and downtown Raymondville went under to surface runoff and ponded water. In the worst drainage, water stood for weeks and months. But the disaster wasn't over when it receded. Those stagnant pools bred mosquitoes in numbers people still talk about — thick enough that cattle died with their airways clogged — until Air Force transport planes were flying spray runs at daybreak over tens of thousands of acres a day. Beulah was a multi-stage catastrophe, a lesson in how meteorology and topography conspire to reshape life in a region.

RoadyGoat →

A Town Born from a Cattle Kingdom RoadyGoat

Look around at the layout of Raymondville. This town wasn't an accident; it was a land venture, and the man behind it had learned this country working for the most famous ranch in the world. Edward Burleson Raymond had been a King Ranch man. In 1904 he organized the Raymond Town and Improvement Company, laid out a townsite, and put his own name on it. Henrietta King, the formidable widow of the ranch's founder, sold lots here as an agent for the King Ranch, and the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company granted the right-of-way that carried the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway south through this brush country. Track and town lots arrived together, and farmers followed the rails in. By 1914 Raymondville had three hundred fifty people, four general stores, a bank, a newspaper, a hotel, a cotton gin and a lumber company. Every street here sits on land that ranching opened and the railroad sold.

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Carroll, Edna Cisneros

1956

Edna Cisneros Carroll, probably the first Mexican American woman in the state of Texas to practice law and to serve as the state's first female district attorney, was born on February 2, 1930, in Raymondville, Texas, to Benita (de la Garza) Cisneros and Manuel Cisneros, a local grocer. Carroll was reared in Raymondville. She later moved to Austin to study at the University of Texas. With her three sisters, Carroll shared a home that was purchased by her parents for the siblings to live in while they attended college. She was a member of the Pre-Law Society and Kappa Beta Pi. In 1952 Carroll received a B.B.A. from the University of Texas. The university's law school awarded her a LL.B. in 1955. Carroll then joined Young, Young, and Daggett, a Houston law firm, to practice criminal law. Soon, however, she left to pursue political office. In 1956 she returned to Raymondville to run for Willacy County district attorney at the age of twenty-six. She defeated her opponent by almost 300 votes and won the first of many elections that would see her through a twenty-nine-year-long public service career in the county. Her election was a significant accomplishment in a region of the state where discrimination against Mexican-origin people had long existed. Eight years later, in 1964, she was reportedly still the state's only female chief prosecutor. As district attorney, Carroll was well-regarded for her legal skills and tenacity. One news account noted that her investigatory, prosecutorial, and oratory skills resulted in a Willacy County jury handing down a rare forty-year sentence in a murder case. She had little patience for the practice of "tradeouts" by defendants seeking guilty pleas. In 1958 Carroll faced her sister Diana Klefisch as defense counsel for the first of numerous times when they represented opposite legal sides. Their courtroom encounters drew crowds eager to hear and see the sisters argue cases. That year they met in the trial of Martín de León and Domingo Ramírez, who faced charges for burglarizing the Bell Loan Company in Raymondville. Tried in the 138th Court, the case may also have marked the first time that any two sisters represented either the prosecution or the defense in the same Texas courtroom. News accounts combined high praise for Carroll's legal acumen with the sexism of the era. One article opened by noting that she had just "finished powdering her nose" while she delivered "sweetly, as she held her lipstick poised" her position on defendant "tradeouts." The Dallas Times Herald pointed out her weight of 100 pounds and referred to cookbooks displayed alongside law books in her office. In 1959 she married Charles Ernest (Bo) Carroll but continued to use her family name professionally, noting that the Cisneros name had a long history in the area. "It would take years and years for me to be known as Edna Carroll," she said. After completing nearly three decades as Willacy County district attorney, Carroll continued to live in Raymondville for many years. She died at the age of eighty-three on July 26, 2013, at the Varanda Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Harlingen, Texas. Her funeral service was held in her hometown of Raymondville, and she was interred at the Raymondville Memorial Cemetery. Edna Cisneros Carroll's contributions to the legal profession have been honored with the Farris-Cisneros Scholarship. Established in 1998 by the Travis County Women Lawyers Scholarship Fund, the award celebrates her and Charlye Farris , the first African American woman admitted to the Texas Bar . The $1,500 grant is presented annually to a minority female law student at the University of Texas. Applicants' financial need, community involvement, and future plans are the basis for winning the scholarship.

Tsha Handbook →

Raymond, Edward Burleson, Founder of Raymondville

1870

Founder of Raymondville. Born in a log house on Congress Avenue, Austin, son of Republic of Texas lawyer and newspaperman N. C. Raymond and wife Lucinda (Riggs), E. B. Raymond came on horseback to South Texas in 1870. After herding cattle uptrail to Kansas, he was hired about 1874 by Richard King to open El Sauz Ranch, and managed King-Kenedy interests for 37 years. He also developed a ranch of his own, married Juanita Rodrigurez, and was the father of two sons, Fred N. and Edward Charles. When El Sauz Post Office was created in 1893, he was made postmaster. He was a school official and served 1898-1910 as a commissioner of Cameron County. Joining other ranchers in deeding right of way for St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway, he also donated a station site near his Las Majadas Ranch. Railway officials named the station in his honor. In 1904, the year rail service was formally inaugurated on the fourth of July, he organized Raymond Town & Improvement Co.; in 1907, became president of town's first bank; set up telephone exchange; built cotton gin. After his death, Raymondville became seat of government for new county of Willacy, created 1921. (1974)

Historical Marker →

Raymondville, TX

1904

Raymondville, the county seat of Willacy County, is at the intersection of State Highways 186 and 448 and is bordered on the east by U.S. Highway 77; the community is twenty-two miles west of Port Mansfield on the Missouri Pacific line in the center of the county. It was established by Edward Burleson Raymond, who organized the Raymond Town and Improvement Company in 1904. In that year the post office was established, and Raymond's company, along with the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company, gave right-of-way to the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. The railway in turn provided low-cost round-trip excursions for land seekers. Town lots were sold by Raymond and by Henrietta King , acting as agent for the King Ranch , Raymond's former employer. Raymondville, located in what was then Cameron County, had by 1914 a population of 350, four general stores, a bank, a newspaper, a hotel, a cotton gin, and a lumber company. Agriculture, primarily the raising of sorghum, cotton, citrus fruits, vegetables, and corn, drove the town's growth in its early years. It was a trade center for local farmers and by 1929 had a population of 1,800. In the 1930s it had at least three churches, two schools, a courthouse, a hospital, and a hotel, as well as businesses and manufacturing enterprises. By 1941 the town's population had increased to 4,050, with 150 rated businesses. By 1952 the population had grown to more than 9,000, probably because of a change in census-taking practices that incorporated residents formerly defined as rural into the community. Raymondville has continued its role as a commercial center for the truck and fruit crops produced in the surrounding area. In the 1960s industries at Raymondville included a cottonseed-processing plant, manufacturers of farm implements, producers of leather goods, fruit processors, and children's clothing manufacturers. Because of its location near the coast, Raymondville is a year-round recreation center. As of 1990 there were twenty-six different religious denominations with churches in the city. The Raymondville Historical and Community Center and the Reber Memorial Library are among the city's cultural institutions. The city has a mayoral government. The Raymondville City Hall includes a public assembly hall. The courthouse was built in 1922, and an annex was constructed in 1977. In Raymondville there are seven schools, including a high school. During the 1970s the population decreased to slightly less than 8,000, but by 1990 it had increased to 8,880, with ninety-seven rated businesses. In 2000 the population was 9,733.

Tsha Handbook →

Willacy County Courthouse

1911

Several years after Willacy County formed in 1911, a courthouse was built by San Antonio Architect Henry T. Phelps in Sarita. Despite the elegant new courthouse, Sarita remained a remote, inaccessible location to many Willacy County residents. In 1921, the 37th Legislature created the present-day Willacy County with Raymondville designated as the county seat. Early county meetings were held in the Raymondville State Bank Building, arranging for the use of a jail cage borrowed from the King Ranch. That year, the commissioners entered into an agreement with Henry T. Phelps, designer of the first Willacy County Courthouse in Sarita, for the design of the new courthouse and jail. Phelps’ design for the new courthouse had a traditional, cross-axial plan with three floors and a basement. Entrances were provided on the four sides of the building at the ends of the crossed corridors. The first floor, accessed by monumental exterior stairs, contained the county courtroom and offices of the county judge and other officials. The second floor housed the district courtroom, jury, grand jury, consultation and witness rooms, as well as other offices. The jail was on the third floor and contained a cell room and sleeping quarters for the juries. The historic courthouse exterior is understated with brick trimmed with cast stone ornament. Completed in 1923 by the Walker Construction Company, the courthouse became the focus of civic activities and pride among residents, hosting festivals, meetings, and community events in addition to county business and numerous high-profile cases. The courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2016

Historical Marker →

Lyford, TX

1904

Lyford is on State Highway 448 and the Missouri Pacific line, between Farm roads 498 and 1921 in central Willacy County. It was named for William H. Lyford, attorney for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. Before the town was founded, part of its future site had a lake known locally as Laguna Del Como Se Llama; the vicinity was known as the Como Se Llama area. In the early to middle 1700s, Spanish colonists settled along the Rio Grande and owned the three land grants in the Willacy County area. The grant on which Lyford was eventually built was the San Juan de Carricitos land grant. The first railroad through the area, the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, built through on July 4, 1904, and was eventually bought by the Missouri Pacific in 1956. Employees of the Rock Island Company formed the Gulf Coast Irrigation Company, which with a capitalization of $500,000 bought 34,000 acres from the King Ranch for $9.00 an acre; Lyford was on this tract. Between 1904 and 1906 Lyford was a tent city, and in 1906 it was served by the grocery store of Hood and Schlecht. The Lyford Realty Company was organized, and the plat for Lyford was filed in Cameron County on March 19, 1907. Many of the early settlers were from Illinois and adjoining states. Pioneer Hall was built at Lyford in 1907; it was the first place for public worship, public school, and other gatherings. A post office also opened that year, and the Lyford Hotel was constructed in stages between 1907 and 1909. Reuben Deyo planted one of the first citrus orchards in the vicinity. In the early to middle 1900s Mexicans in Lyford were segregated; the leaders of Lyford set up a separate town for them so that they could "do and build as they wished." During the Mexican Revolution , when raiders sometimes crossed the United States-Mexico border, soldiers and Texas Rangers were stationed in Lyford in 1913 and 1914. In 1914 the town had 300 inhabitants, four general stores, a bank, a lumber company, a blacksmith, and a drugstore. A newspaper, the Lyford Gulf Current , was also in publication, with B. D. Stevenson as publisher. The community had a population of 600 in 1928. It grew steadily through the 1930s and in 1940 had a population of 1,150 and fifteen businesses. There was a small population decline between 1941 and 1950, but in 1968 its population was 1,541. In 1972 it was 1,425, and in 1976 Lyford reported forty-eight rated businesses. In 1990 it had a population of 1,674 and sixteen businesses. The population reached 1,973 with forty-six businesses in 2000.

Tsha Handbook → · 4.3 mi away

Lyford

1907

Before the arrival of the railroad, this area was a part of the King Ranch known as "Como se LLama". Lyford was developed in 1907 by executives of the Rock Island Railroad and named for attorney William H. Lyford of Illinois. Settlers came by train from the midwest and lived in tents until permanent homes could be built. An artesian well supplied water, and "Pioneer Hall" housed worship services and school classes. Later the Lyford Hotel became a focal point for the town. Soldiers and Texas Rangers protected Lyford during the border bandit raids of 1913-15. (1985)

Historical Marker → · 4.6 mi away

Everything Near Raymondville

81 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Carroll, Edna Cisneros · Tsha Handbook

    Edna Cisneros Carroll, probably the first Mexican American woman in the state of Texas to practice law and to serve as the state's first female district attorney, was born on February 2, 1930, in Raymondville, Texas, to…

  • Raymondville, TX · Tsha Handbook

    Raymondville, the county seat of Willacy County, is at the intersection of State Highways 186 and 448 and is bordered on the east by U.S. Highway 77; the community is twenty-two miles west of Port Mansfield on the…

  • Pease, Charles Henry · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Hidalgo County, Texas, where Charles Henry Pease made his mark. Born in Michigan, Pease moved to Raymondville in 1907 and became a banker. But his biggest impact came later, from 1926 to 1929.…

  • Raymond, Edward Burleson, Founder of Raymondville · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    Founder of Raymondville. Born in a log house on Congress Avenue, Austin, son of Republic of Texas lawyer and newspaperman N. C. Raymond and wife Lucinda (Riggs), E. B. Raymond came on horseback to South Texas in 1870.…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Raymondville (Raymondville) · 0.6 mi

    Raymondville (Raymondville, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Diego Villegas (0.486 avg); Justin Rodriguez (0.475 avg, 1 HR).

  • Willacy County Courthouse · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    Several years after Willacy County formed in 1911, a courthouse was built by San Antonio Architect Henry T. Phelps in Sarita. Despite the elegant new courthouse, Sarita remained a remote, inaccessible location to many…

  • Willacy County · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Willacy County, which was officially formed back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1911</say-as>, though it was recreated just a decade later in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • First Baptist Church of Raymondville · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Raymondville. Services began in a shared home in 1907, and the church officially organized in 1914, building a wooden structure here. Over the years, the…

  • The Tent City Prison Riot · 1.2 mi

    As you drive along Highway 77 near Raymondville, you're passing the former site of a prison unlike any other. It was the Willacy County Correctional Center, a massive facility that held 3,000 men, not in concrete cells,…

  • The Hurricane, the Flood, and the Flies · 1.2 mi

    In September 1967, Hurricane Beulah showed Raymondville the terrifying power of weather, hydrology, and biology combined. Beulah came ashore near Brownsville on September 20th as a category three, then stalled and wrung…

  • A Town Born from a Cattle Kingdom · 1.2 mi

    Look around at the layout of Raymondville. This town wasn't an accident; it was a land venture, and the man behind it had learned this country working for the most famous ranch in the world. Edward Burleson Raymond had…

  • Raymondville, TX · 1.2 mi

    Raymondville's history began in 1904 when it was formed by Edward Burleson Raymond, a foreman of the El Sauz Ranch portion of the King Ranch and owner of the Las Majadas Ranch. The city's history was also the subject of…

Show all 81 nearby places
  • The 'Cotton-Pickin'est Town in Texas' · 1.2 mi

    Raymondville was laid out in 1904 by Edward Burleson Raymond, who organized a town company, handed the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway its right of way, and built a cotton gin. Cotton and that railroad made…

  • Los Angeles, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through La Salle County, and you might be surprised to learn you're passing through a place named Los Angeles. <break time="400ms"/> This community was established in 1923 by a land company hoping to draw…

  • Lyford, TX · 4.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Lyford is on State Highway 448 and the Missouri Pacific line, between Farm roads 498 and 1921 in central Willacy County. It was named for William H. Lyford, attorney for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. Before…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Lyford (Lyford) · 4.4 mi

    Lyford (Lyford, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Gael Silva (0.483 avg, 2 HR).

  • The Fury of Hurricane Beulah · 4.6 mi

    In September 1967, the landscape you're driving through was the site of a historic disaster. Hurricane Beulah, a massive Category 3 storm, came ashore on September 20 just south of Brownsville, near the mouth of the Rio…

  • Selling the Magic Valley · 4.6 mi

    Imagine stepping off a train in 1906, leaving behind a snowy Illinois winter. You've been traveling for days on a landseeker special, a train chartered by developers. Here in Lyford they take you to a big tent — the…

  • Taming the Brush Country · 4.6 mi

    The productive farmland you see around Lyford is an agricultural engineering marvel. A century ago this was the 'Wild Horse Desert,' a dense, thorny thicket of mesquite, huisache and prickly pear. Converting it took a…

  • Lyford, TX · 4.6 mi

    Lyford's economic history has been significantly shaped by international trade agreements. Prior to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect on January 1, 1994, the city's economy was…

  • Lyford · 4.6 mi · Historical Marker

    Before the arrival of the railroad, this area was a part of the King Ranch known as "Como se LLama". Lyford was developed in 1907 by executives of the Rock Island Railroad and named for attorney William H. Lyford of…

  • First Baptist Church of Lyford · 4.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lyford, where Baptists started meeting for worship services around 1909, with services held once a month. The First Baptist Church was officially founded in 1911, and the congregation met in…

  • Lasara · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lasara, a town born from a Spanish land grant. In 1926, developers W. A. Harding and Lamar Gill combined their wives' names, Laura and Sara, to create the name Lasara. That same year, the…

  • Lasara, TX · 8.3 mi

    Lasara, a small community in Texas, first appeared on the map during the 2000 U.S. census, marking its official recognition. The town has seen significant changes over the years, particularly in education. Before 2011,…

  • Great Salt Lake · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Willacy County, near Raymondville. Look for evidence of a massive salt lake that's been here since the days of the earliest Spanish explorers. This natural wonder was the primary source of salt…

  • Stockholm · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Stockholm, a Swedish community that bloomed here just over a hundred years ago. Attracted by cheap, fertile land, Swedish immigrants arrived between 1912 and 1914, promoted by a land…

  • San Perlita "Pearl of the Valley" · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Perlita, the 'Pearl of the Valley.' This land was part of a Spanish land grant from 1790. But it wasn't until 1926, when the railroad arrived, that the San Perlita Development Company cleared…

  • San Perlita, TX · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Willacy County, and right here is San Perlita. This community owes its existence to a legal battle over land that dates back to Spanish and Mexican law. In 1881, Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy…

  • San Juan De Carricitos Land Grant · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once the largest land grant in South Texas, the San Juan de Carricitos. In 1792, the King of Spain awarded over half a million acres to Don Jose Narciso Cavazos. This vast territory…

  • Sebastian, TX · 9.2 mi

    The residents of Sebastian, Texas, are predominantly of Hispanic or Latino descent, making up 95.49% of the population. This rich cultural heritage is a defining characteristic of the community.

  • Sebastian · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Sebastian, a town that wasn't always named Sebastian. Until 1906, it was called Stillman Town Tract. It was renamed to honor a Rock Island Railroad officer, and by 1914, the Sebastian Realty…

  • The Great Flood of Hurricane Beulah · 10.0 mi

    In September 1967, one of the most powerful hurricanes in Texas history, Hurricane Beulah, slammed into the coast just south of here. While the winds were destructive, the real disaster for San Perlita and the rest of…

  • Hurricane Beulah: A Meteorological Monster · 10.0 mi

    In 1967, San Perlita found itself under a massive meteorological experiment run by nature alone: Hurricane Beulah. This Category 3 storm was not just powerful, it was bizarre. A ship at Brownsville clocked gusts of 136…

  • The Little School District That Could · 10.0 mi

    In a state where small school districts are constantly facing pressure to consolidate, the San Perlita Independent School District stands as a powerful symbol of community survival. For a town with a population under…

  • Cavazos, Lauro Faustino, Sr. · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Willacy County, and right here is where Lauro Faustino Cavazos Sr. made his mark. He was a third-generation cowboy on the legendary King Ranch, born in 1894. In 1915, during the Norias Ranch Raid,…

  • Raymondville Peonage Cases · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The Raymondville peonage cases, which were the first of their kind in Texas history, were tried in the Nueces County federal court in January 1927. Residents of Willacy County were arraigned for violation of federal…

  • El Sauz, TX (Willacy County) · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Willacy County, and right here is El Sauz, a community with a name that means 'willow' in Spanish. It started as part of a massive Spanish land grant back in 1781. But El Sauz made national…

  • Willacy County · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Willacy County, a place with a story that stretches back to the earliest days of European exploration in Texas. Right here, in 1519, Spanish explorer Alonzo Álvarez de Pineda mapped and named this…

  • La Sal Vieja · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Willacy County, not far from Raymondville, and right here you're passing La Sal Vieja, the 'Old Salt' lakes. <break time="400ms"/> For centuries, these salt flats were a vital resource. <break…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 12.4 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

  • Hilltop Gardens · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Hilltop Gardens, a pioneer in the U.S. commercial aloe vera industry. Founded in 1939 by Lee and Sherman Ewald, this farm was among the first to cultivate aloe for its medicinal and…

  • A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 14.0 mi

    This road carries a Blue Star Memorial Highway designation, one of a string of them across Texas. The name comes from a family tradition. When someone in a household was serving in the armed forces, the family displayed…

  • Hargill, TX · 14.8 mi

    Hargill's history dates back to the early 1900s when the Missouri Texas Land and Irrigation Company owned the land. The Harding-Gill Company was formed in 1916 to develop the area. By 1920, a school was constructed,…

  • First Baptist Church of Hargill · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Hargill. A small Baptist congregation met in a borrowed church from 1923 to 1926. Walter Holt led the drive to raise funds, and the Baptists built this wood…

  • Engineering a Garden in the Brush · 15.4 mi

    The green fields you see around La Villa are not natural. They are the result of one of the most ambitious engineering projects in Texas history. A hundred years ago, this was semi-arid brushland, called 'chaparral.'…

  • The School at the Heart of the Town · 15.4 mi

    In a town as small as La Villa, the local school isn't just a place for education; it's the glue. This ground has been settled a long time - it was part of a Spanish land grant issued to Vicente de Ynojosa back in 1797,…

  • The Fifty-Year Wait to Become a City · 15.4 mi

    La Villa's ground is old — part of a Spanish land grant made to Vicente de Ynojosa in 1797, with a community living on it by 1800. The town you see, though, is a railroad town. In 1927 La Villa became a shipping point…

  • El Mago: The Accordion Magician · 15.5 mi

    Santa Rosa's real claim on the music of the Rio Grande Valley is the accordion, and it goes back further than most people think. In the 1930s a blind accordionist named Bruno Villareal lived in a shack about three miles…

  • The Water Web: Irrigating Santa Rosa · 15.5 mi

    The reason a town like Santa Rosa could become an agricultural center in a semi-arid region is a massive feat of engineering you can still see today. Look for the canals and drainage ditches that crisscross this…

  • Vela, Ruben · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here, you're passing through the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, the birthplace of a musical legend. Ruben Vela, born in San Antonio in 1937, grew up in towns like Relampago…

  • The Fury of Hurricane Beulah · 15.5 mi

    In September 1967, one of the most powerful hurricanes in Texas history, Hurricane Beulah, slammed into the Rio Grande Valley. For Santa Rosa, it was a catastrophe. The storm stalled, dumping an incredible amount of…

  • Santa Rosa, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Santa Rosa, a community that owes its name to a ranch operated by Charles Stillman back in the 1860s. While a post office briefly served the area during the Civil War, Santa Rosa truly began to…

  • Dishman, James Henry · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be James Henry Dishman's vast ranching empire. Born in East Texas, Dishman was forced to become a man at just six years old when his father died in the Civil War. After building a…

  • Water from a Concrete River · 15.9 mi

    Look around at the green fields and lush citrus groves surrounding Combes. This landscape is not natural; it’s an engineering marvel. This part of Texas only gets about 27 inches of rain a year, not nearly enough for…

  • Sold by the Acre · 15.9 mi

    Combes wasn't a town that grew by accident; it was a business venture, sold off by the acre and by the lot. The railroad came first: the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico line was built through here in 1904, and a post…

  • Combes, TX · 16.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Combes, a town born from the railroad boom. It all started around 1904 when the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway laid tracks through this area. The land was originally part of the Combes…

  • First Baptist Church of Edcouch · 16.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Edcouch. It began as a non-denominational Sunday School in 1920, officially organizing as Los Indios Baptist Church in 1924. The congregation moved and changed…

  • La Huelga: The Melon Strike of 1966 · 17.0 mi

    As you drive these flat roads, picture the summer of 1966, when farmworkers across the Valley walked off the job. The strike itself broke out about sixty miles west of here, in the melon fields of Starr County, where…

  • Canals as wide as small rivers · 17.0 mi

    The green fields surrounding Edcouch look natural, but they are a massive engineering achievement. This area, known as the 'Magic Valley,' wasn't always so lush. It's a semi-arid region that receives only about 20…

  • The Black Hole: Home of the Yellowjackets · 17.0 mi

    If you’re in town on a Friday night in the fall, you’ll feel a shift in the energy. That’s because of the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets, one of the most legendary high school football programs in South Texas. Their home…

  • Canals sixty feet wide · 17.3 mi

    The reason a town like Primera could even exist here comes down to a massive feat of engineering. In the early 20th century, this was semi-arid brushland that got too little rain for farming. The solution was to tame…

  • The Fight for a City · 17.3 mi

    Primera got its name from a railroad man's shorthand. In 1927 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass built a line through here from Edinburg Junction down to Brownsville, and the crews needed something to call the siding.…

  • Jordan, Esteban [Steve] · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Elsa, Texas, the birthplace of Esteban "Steve" Jordan, born right here in 1939. He was blinded in one eye at birth, but that didn't stop him from becoming a legendary conjunto accordionist. Jordan…

  • Llano Grande Center for Research and Development · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Elsa, in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. Right here is the Llano Grande Center, a nonprofit that started in the early 90s as a college prep program at Edcouch Elsa High School. Founded by…

  • Elsa, TX · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Elsa, a town that owes its existence to a railroad and a landowner's wife. The land here was settled by ranchers long before 1800, but it wasn't until 1927 that the Texas and New Orleans Railroad…

  • The 1968 Student Walkout · 18.3 mi

    The campus of Edcouch-Elsa High School, just down the road, was the site of a pivotal moment in the Chicano movement. On November 14, 1968, between a hundred and fifty and two hundred Mexican-American students walked…

  • La Máquina Amarilla · 18.3 mi

    If you're here on a Friday night in the fall, you'll feel the whole town's energy focused on one thing: high school football. The local team is the Edcouch-Elsa High School Yellowjackets, but they're known throughout…

  • Engineering a Garden · 18.3 mi

    The reason a town like Elsa even exists is thanks to a massive feat of engineering that transformed this entire landscape. A century ago, this was semi-arid brushland, covered in mesquite and cactus. The soil was…

  • Elsa, TX · 18.3 mi

    Elsa, Texas, was settled as ranch land before 1800. Anglo-Americans began settling in the area in the early 1900s. The town was laid out with the coming of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1927 and was incorporated…

  • Harlingen Marine Military - 2025 Texas 11-Man T-CAL I state football champion · 18.5 mi · Sports News

    You're near Harlingen Marine Military High School in Harlingen. Last December, they took down Texas Legacy forty-four to twelve to win the Texas 11-Man T-CAL I state football championship. They wear that crown until…

  • L. E. Snavely House · 18.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Harlingen, and to your right stands a picturesque house, built in 1928 by Levi and Lenna Snavely. They weren't just building a home; they were building an agricultural empire. The Snavelys moved…

  • Armstrong, TX · 18.7 mi · Local history

    Armstrong, Texas, a small community in South Texas, bears the indelible mark of its early Mexican American heritage. Settled predominantly by families of Tejano descent, the land was once part of larger Spanish land…

  • El Sal Del Rey · 18.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through South Texas, where salt wasn't just a seasoning – it was king! Back in 1746, Spanish explorers found this salt flat and claimed it for the Spanish Crown. Under old law, salt was literally money,…

  • The Test of Hurricane Beulah · 19.0 mi

    The dream of Palm Valley almost drowned before it got going. This place grew up in the late 1960s around the Harlingen Country Club, whose golf course dates to 1965 — homes went in around the fairways, and the place…

  • A City Built Around a Golf Course · 19.0 mi

    Most towns start with a crossroads, a church, or a train station. Palm Valley started with a golf course. Drive around here and you'll notice the roads curve and wind and the houses all seem to be looking inward -…

  • Harlingen Hospital · 19.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Harlingen's very first hospital! Opened in 1923 by local businesswoman Ida Gilbert and nurse Marie Yeager, this 7-bed facility was a pioneer in healthcare for the growing city. The…

  • Las Palmas II, TX · 19.1 mi

    Las Palmas II came into existence as a separate entity in the 2010 U.S. census. Before that, it was part of the Las Palmas-Juarez CDP. The split marked the beginning of Las Palmas II's identity as a distinct community…

  • Lon C. Hill Home · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Harlingen, and right here is the first home ever built in this city, constructed in 1904. It was the residence of Lon C. Hill, the visionary behind the railroads and irrigation systems that…

  • Harlingen Army Airfield and Harlingen Air Force Base · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Harlingen, and right here, you're passing the site of a major World War II training ground. Back in 1941, leaders here offered up nearly a thousand acres to the War Department for a flexible…

  • Rogers Massacre · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Rio Hondo, and just off the road here is the site of a brutal massacre. It's May 1st, 1846, just after Texas joined the U.S. and tensions with Mexico were sky-high. A supply train, including…

  • Stagecoach to the Rio Grande, C.S.A. · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through South Texas, near the Rio Grande, and you're passing through a place that was once absolutely vital to the Confederacy. About ten miles east of here was Paso Real, a ferry crossing on the Arroyo…

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